The object in collecting the following brief sentences, is to meet the need of those who, when they cannot feed much, may feed little. There are various needs and various stated of soul. Some are only able to gather a little, while others gather much; but he that gathered little had no lack, and he that gathered much had nothing over. It is better to gather a little than not gather at all, and according to medical opinion, food of any and every kind should only be taken in proportion to the power of the patient’s digestion. One who could only take a little milk, would suffer much if he took meat. However, light food cannot injure the strongest, while it may be of the greatest use to the very weakest. There was always in the church, and always will be whilst it remains upon earth, babes, young men, and fathers, each and all standing in need of daily food, best suited to their condition. A weak person should take a little and often, if he wishes to recover his strength. We frequently find ourselves weak in body from not taking even a little food; we become faint and weary, fit for nothing and fit for nobody, so that the grasshopper becomes a burden. And so with the soul, if we would be strong, we must feed well, and live well, and above all, have plenty of “exercise.” True, few of us like the latter, hence our decline of strength, and morbid state of soul. Without exercise we get wisdom, but with all our getting, we do not get understanding; or in other words, we do not (1 Tim. 4:7) exercise ourselves rather unto godliness.
Many of the Lord’s people are fond of feeding upon rich truth, while they despise “milk for babes.” By so doing they become “puffed up,” or puffed out, but they are never (2 Tim. 2:1), apart from exercise, “strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus,” they know much, but are able to do little or nothing, except speak big words, and lay down the law for others: or, like Job at one time, they think that they are the men, and that wisdom will perish with them:
“Dropping buckets into empty wells,
And growing old in drawing nothing up.”
For obvious reasons, I have not considered it prudent to place the initials of the author against each sentence, as some of us are too apt to value the truth as we value the man ordained of God to speak it. We must guard against this, otherwise we shall become like Isaac (Gen. 27:1,4,20,22), not only feeble, but blind, and in our eagerness for “savory meat, such as we love,” and which must be prepared for us by a certain man only, find that the “savory meat” has been found for us “so quickly,” and in the end we shall with sorrow discover that the voice was Jacob’s voice, but the hands were the hands of Esau.
J.M.B. London, 1876.